My current bench: a Benchcrafted ‘Classic’ 84″ (with custom hub bling).
A few years back, we decided we had too many benches in our shop, so I hired movers to transport and get my “Gluebo” into my basement. (Its weight almost killed us moving it from my former workplace to Lost Art Press in 2017.)
Then we decided we had too few benches, and that we should have a commercial bench on site so that we could try it out and perhaps recommend it to those who didn’t want to (or have time to) make their own bench. (And OK… we did the math, and realized our time was better spent on editing and things other than making a new bench.) So we asked Benchcrafted to make me a 30″-tall version of the 84″-long “Classic” (the standard height is 34″). At 5’6″ (OK…I’m a little shorter these days), 34″ is too high for me to comfortably plane atop for long periods of time – and I spend a fair amount of time at the bench. So I was happy that Benchcrafted agreed.
And it is an excellent bench; we do recommend it – though I wish it were about 2″ wider. (It would be easy to add a piece of maple to the back edge…I just haven’t done it.)
Now we need to move a bench over to our new storefront, so folks have one handy on which to try out Crucible tools (and so that we have one on site for photography). Kale is a couple inches shorter than am I…and I must have had on Birkenstocks the day we measured for that bench height. In my work boots (which I wear about 10 months out of the year), 31″ is a better height. So Kale is taking my Classic, and we have once again begged Benchcrafted to make a custom-height bench for me. We’re moving Kale’s current bench, the Holtzapffel, to the Anthe building
This time, we’re getting the Split-top Roubo, because people ask about it a lot. And having worked on one for only a couple weeks on and off while teaching at the Florida School of Woodworking, I don’t have an informed decision about it. So I’m about to find out.
It’s easier for Benchcrafted to do a run of benches at one time – and they don’t typically do custom. So if anyone else needs a 31″-high bench, get your Split-top Order in ASAP (I’d say by no later than Dec. 11), and send the Benchcrafted guys a note immediately afterword stating that you want the shorter height.
– Fitz
p.s. How do you know the right bench height? The way we figure it is to stand straight and let your arm hang down loosely by your side. Have someone measure the distance from the knuckle joint on your dominant hand’s pinky to the floor. That’s the ideal height for the top of your bench, if you do a lot of handplaning with metal planes; those who use wooden-stock planes might prefer a slightly shorter bench. To raise things to a comfortable height for sawing, I use a twin-screw vise.
p.p.s. We also plan to film a video in 2025 on making the Anarchist’s Workbench at 31″ tall. That one will likely become my bench (unless I fall in love with the split top), then I’ll take home my “petite Roubo” that found its way over here when we were still a bench short. I miss having that one at home. It is white pine – no need to hire movers (which is why we brought it here instead of bringing back the Gluebo). Then we’ll have enough benches for all our classes, and at various heights so that we can more easily match them up to people. Plus, lots of different styles so that folks can try out the different “models.”
Traditional shop in miniature. This workbench scene, owned by tool collector John Sindelar, shows a complete, functioning shop. But what if you don’t own a bench?
The following is excerpted from “The Anarchist’s Workbench,” by Christopher Schwarz. The book is – on the one hand – a detailed plan for a simple workbench that can be built using construction lumber and basic woodworking tools. But it’s also the story of Schwarz’s 20-year journey researching, building and refining historical workbenches until there was nothing left to improve.
Along the way, Schwarz quits his corporate job, builds a publishing company founded on the principles of mutualism and moves into an 1896 German barroom in a red-light district, where he now builds furniture, publishes books and tries to live as an aesthetic anarchist. Oh – and the PDF of the book is free (see the first sentence at this link.)
There’s only one reason that the cheap-o workbench industry exists. And that’s because people think they need a workbench to build a workbench (or are truly delusional and think it will be fine for furniture making).
So many woodworkers I’ve met have spent $200 to $500 on a bench that isn’t worth the BTUs to burn. The things wobble like a broken finger. The vises hold like the handshake of a creepy vacuum salesman. They are too lightweight for even mild planing tasks.
You don’t need one of these benches to someday construct a “real” bench. In fact, I build benches all the time without the assistance of a workbench. It’s easy. Start with sawhorses. Glue up the benchtop on the sawhorses. Sawhorses + benchtop = ersatz bench. Now build the workbench’s base on top of that ersatz bench. Put the base and the benchtop together. You’re done.
If you want a temporary workbench until you build a “real” workbench, there are ways to get the job done with just a little money and a little frustration. This brief chapter seeks to give you some options. I know that some of you will insist on buying something as soon as you anoint yourself a woodworker. It’s an instinct we’re trained into as consumers. Here are a few things to put in your shopping cart instead of a cheap workbench:
Buy an industrial steel packing table with a hardwood top. You can get these from many, many suppliers (McMaster-Carr is one). These feature a heavy welded steel base and a wooden top that’s maple, if you’re lucky. These metal tables don’t rack like a cheap workbench and cost less (way less if you find a used one). You can screw thin pieces of wood to the top as planing stops so you can plane the faces of boards and legs and the like. And get a large handscrew clamp to stabilize boards when planing them on edge. These packing tables don’t come with any vises, of course, but you can fix that with your credit card.
Buy a couple bar clamps (you’ll need clamps no matter what) that are long enough to span the width of the top of the packing table. Screw a 4×4 below the benchtop right at the front edge of the top – this will allow you to clamp your work to the front edge of the benchtop so you can work on boards’ edges and ends.
That’s one solution. How about a simpler approach?
Use your kitchen cabinets, kitchen table or dining table as the workbench. You can clamp planing stops to the tabletop (you’ll need a couple F-style clamps for this). Don’t forget to buy a large handscrew clamp to help stabilize boards when planing them on edge on the tabletop.
For working on edges and ends of boards, buy a commercial Moxon vise, which you can clamp to any tabletop or countertop. This vise will let you work on the edges and ends of boards. Even after you build a “real” workbench, you’ll continue to use the Moxon and the handscrews.
Is that still too much money? Do you have a public park nearby?
Use a picnic table. Drive nails or screws into the top to serve as planing stops. With a picnic table you get both high and low working surfaces. You can drive some nails into the picnic table’s benches to act as a planing stop and use them like a Roman workbench.
Buy a couple big handscrew clamps (every woodworker needs these anyway). Clamp or screw these handscrews to the picnic table so they work like vises so you can work on boards’ edges or ends.
Here are other time-honored solutions I have observed in the wild.
Take four pieces of 3/4″ x 24″ x 96″ CDX cheap-o plywood and screw them together face to face to make a 3″-thick benchtop. Screw this benchtop to a used metal desk. The old metal desks that populated schools, warehouses and government offices are ugly, cheap and widely available. They are almost all 30″ high. Add a 3″-thick benchtop and you are in the right height range for most Americans. Some of these desks have MDF desktops. Some have sheet metal tops. Either way, you can screw your plywood benchtop to the desk. Bonus: The drawers give you tool storage. Add workholding as above.
Conscript an old dresser/bureau. This is a three- or four-drawer cabinet for storing clothes. One 19th-century book I read showed how to turn this into a workbench. Attach planing stops to the top of the bureau/dresser. For sawing, keep it simple – use 5-gallon buckets as sawbenches (thanks for that tip, Mike Siemsen). You also could clamp a Moxon vise to the top. The lower drawers are for storing tools. The upper drawer can catch sawdust (not my idea – it was mentioned in the book).
The Apocalypse Workbench When I teach or demonstrate woodworking on the road, the venue is occasionally luxurious and other times it’s more like “Lord of the Flies.” I’ve showed up at woodworking clubs where the workbench on offer was a folding table with metal legs and a particleboard top.
After years of encountering this problem, I learned to travel with an emergency kit of things that allowed me to work without bursting into sweat and tears in front of an audience. Here’s the kit:
Two large handscrews
Two 36″ bar clamps
Two F-style clamps (usually with 12″ bars)
Thin strips of plywood, usually 3″ x 24″ and in two thicknesses: 1/4″ and 1/2″
Small clamping pads of scrap plywood, to prevent denting my work when I pinch it
A few softwood shims
A couple simple bench hooks for sawing.
This kit has converted many desks and tables into somewhat-functioning workbenches. The handscrews and bar clamps act as face vises. The plywood scraps can be made into planing stops for planing with the grain or across it. And the F-style clamps can clamp my work – or other clamps – to the tabletop.
To be sure, I’m always happy to return home to my workbench. But until I find a way to fit it in an airplane’s overhead compartment, this kit has become a way that I can work almost anywhere.
Last week I got to examine two Scandinavian workbenches, presumably from the 1600s, that were on display at the Skokloster Castle museum outside Stockholm. Both benches had some interesting details that I had never seen before on workbenches.
A Different Pinch Dog (& Bench Nipple)
The bigger workbench at Skokloster had a massive shoulder vise that has a curious round protrusion as part of the face vise. We got to calling it the “bench nipple.” It looked like a huge bead, and I strongly suspect it was purely decorative.
But you always wonder, did the owner find some use for the nipple? The thing had lost a lot of fights with a saw blade during its life. Though, to be fair, the entire bench was covered with tool marks. These woodworkers were not precious about marring their worksurface.
The other unusual feature of this bench was a forged metal dog that we came to call the “pinch dog.” It fit into the dog holes of the workbench, but it had two peculiar characteristics. It was much longer than the other dogs. And the metal spring of the dog went all the way to the top of the dog. When the dog was pushed into its dog hole, the leaves closed like the jaws of a vise. But they did not close all the way. I suspect the dog was used to pinch thin stock so it could be worked on its edge – planing it or grooving it, perhaps.
The dog could also be used like a standard metal bench dog. It was quite clever, and I might need to chat with a blacksmith about making one.
A Different End Vise
The second bench was much shorter than the first and was equipped with your standard stuff: shoulder vise, tail vise, tool well and a storage locker below.
The curious part of this bench was a third vise located up by the face vise. The vise had a small screw compared to the face vise and tail vise screws. It had a small chop that was fitted with a small dog hole. A matching small dog hole was mortised into the frame. Clearly a piece was missing from this vise that might have answered some questions.
After some thought, I suspect this vise could have been used to pinch wide boards between the small dogs for face planing. As I mentioned, the bench is shorter than I would like. So this would be a way to handle longer boards. Both of these benches were used primarily by joiners who were fitting up the castle with wooden hearths. Plus frame-and-panel trim throughout the structure.
If you have seen a vise like this on an old bench, leave a comment.
Do you need a new workbench – perhaps one based on traditional forms? We probably have a resource to help. Below are just a few of our workbench offerings – in video and book form. Plus, a link to video tours of workbenches Chris and others have built in the last 25 years.
Video: “Roubo Workbench: By Hand & Power” Building a workbench using giant slabs of solid timber is easier than you think. Christopher Schwarz and Will Myers, who have built hundreds of workbenches in their careers, show you how to do it with simple tools and wet wood.
“Roubo Workbench: By Hand & Power” walks you through the construction of an 8′-long slab workbench starting with wet chunks of inexpensive red oak. Will and Chris show you how to tackle each operation using only hand tools, only electric tools or a clever combination of both.
The 4:19-long video also includes copious amounts of workbench design details – including how to scale the height, width and length of the bench for your work – so you can customize your bench for your body. There’s also an extensive discussion of basic workholding – where to put your holdfast holes and how you can work easily without a tail vise.
Video: “The Naked Woodworker” “The Naked Woodworker” video seeks to answer the simple question: How do you get started in woodworking when you have nothing? No tools. No bench. No skills. And no knowledge of where to begin.
Veteran woodworker and teacher Mike Siemsen helps you take your first steps into the craft without spending a lot of money or spending years setting up shop. In fact, Mike shows you how to acquire a decent set of tools and build a workbench and sawbench for about $600 or $700 – something you can accomplish during a few weekends of work.
Mike Siemsen, drilling dog holes in his “Naked Woodworker” bench.
“The Naked Woodworker” begins at a Mid-West Tool Collectors Association’s regional meeting with Mike sifting through, evaluating, haggling and buying the tools needed to begin building furniture. Then, at Mike’s Minnesota shop, he fixes up the tools he bought. He rehabs the planes, sharpens the saws and fixes up the braces – all on camera.
On the second video in the set, Mike builds a sawbench and a fully functional workbench using home-center materials. Both the sawbench and workbench are amazingly clever. You don’t need a single machine or power tool to make them. And they work incredibly well.
The bench is based on Peter Nicholson’s early 19th-century design. It is remarkably solid and is perfect for a life of woodworking with hand or power tools.
Book: “The Anarchist’s Workbench” “The Anarchist’s Workbench” is – on the one hand – a detailed plan for a simple workbench that can be built using construction lumber and basic woodworking tools. But it’s also the story of Christopher Schwarz’s 20-year journey researching, building and refining historical workbenches until there was nothing left to improve.
“The Anarchist’s Workbench” is the third and final book in the “anarchist” series, and it attempts to cut through the immense amount of misinformation about building a proper bench. It helps answer the questions that dog every woodworker: What sort of bench should I build? What wood should I use? What dimensions should it be? And what vises should I attach to it?
The AWB after 18 months of use.
“The Anarchist’s Workbench” also seeks to open your eyes to simpler workbench designs that eschew metal fasteners and instead rely only on the time-tested mortise-and-tenon joint that’s secured with a drawbored peg. The bench plan in the book is based on a European design that spread across the continent in the 1500s. It has only 12 joints, weighs more than 300 pounds and requires less than $300 in lumber. And while the bench is immensely simple, it is a versatile design that you can adapt and change as you grow as a woodworker.
Book: “The Workbench Book” First published in 1987, “The Workbench Book” by Scott Landis remains the most complete book on the most important tool in the woodworker’s shop.
My personal copy is a little beat up from life on my shop shelf.
“The Workbench Book” is a richly illustrated guided tour of the world’s best workbenches — from a traditional Shaker bench to the mass-produced Workmate. Author and workbench builder Scott Landis visited dozens of craftsmen, observing them at work and listening to what they had to say about their benches. The result is an intriguing and illuminating account of each bench’s strengths and weaknesses, within the context of a vibrant woodworking tradition.
This new 248-page hardbound edition from Lost Art Press ensures “The Workbench Book” will be available to future generations of woodworkers. Produced and printed in the United States, this classic text is printed on FSC-certified recycled paper and features a durable sewn binding designed to last generations. The 1987 text remains the same in this edition and includes a foreword by Christopher Schwarz.
Book: “Ingenious Mechanicks” Workbenches with screw-driven vises are a fairly modern invention. For more than 2,000 years, woodworkers built complex and beautiful pieces of furniture using simpler benches that relied on pegs, wedges and the human body to grip the work. While it’s easy to dismiss these ancient benches as obsolete, they are – at most – misunderstood.
Christopher Schwarz has been building these ancient workbenches and putting them to work in his shop to build all manner of furniture. Absent any surviving ancient instruction manuals for these benches, Schwarz relied on hundreds of historical paintings of these benches for clues as to how they worked. Then he replicated the devices and techniques shown in the paintings to see how (or if) they worked.
“Ingenious Mechanicks” is about this journey into the past and takes the reader from Pompeii, which features the oldest image of a Western bench, to a Roman fort in Germany to inspect the oldest surviving workbench and finally to his shop in Kentucky, where he recreated three historical workbenches and dozens of early jigs.
The Lost Art Press shop on May 30, 2023.
And here are links to video tours of workbench forms that are in the Lost Art Press shop (and three that used to be). (Most of them were built by Chris when he was at Popular Woodworking Magazine.)
The $175 Workbench – now our shipping station when it’s not in use for a class) The Power Tool Workbench – currently in the Horse Garage – meant to be used during a class by the person not teaching…but it’s almost always covered with wood and other supplies, so we use the low bench in the shop instead). English Joiner’s Bench – in the shop, behind Chris’ “Anarchist’s Workbench” – it’s a hair taller than the AWB, so it sometimes functions as a stop at the back of his bench. It is the most level spot in our shop – so whomever is working at it during a chair class gets kicked off when it’s time to level legs. The Cherry Roubo – now at our general contractor’s house. This one – while gorgeous – is just a bit too narrow for efficient and comfortable use during many of our classes, so we gave it to one of its biggest fans. (The size was limited by the width of slabs available at the time of building – had the wood allowed, it could have been wider.) The Holtzapffel Workbench – in the front window. It’s original twin-screw vise is in the basement; for most classes, the leg vise is more useful. And when I’m teaching a tool chest class, I prefer a Moxon vise atop the bench to raise the work to a comfortable sawing level for more students. Vintage Ulmia – now with a friend. A good bench – just not great for us. The Glulam Workbench (aka Gluebo) – now in my basement, for which I’m thankful. I built my other bench, a wee Roubo, to go on the second floor of my old house, and it’s too small for a lot of the house-scale work I’m now doing! Moravian Workbench – in the front window, back to back with the Holtzapffel. This one was built by our friend Will Myers. French Oak Roubo – this behemoth is back to bench with my bench. Lightweight Commercial Bench – Chris bought this one for a Fine Woodworking article on beefing up a wobbly bench. I believe it’s now at his daughter Katherine’s house.
I know some readers are loath to drill a new hole in their workbench (or file the mouth of a handplane, or reshape a saw handle) without a court order. Today I’m putting on my robes and firing up the wooden gavel. Judge Crissy is in session.
The advantage of the carver’s vise (on sale at Grizzly until August – not sponsored) is that it can go anywhere there’s a hole. But where should the hole go?
Here’s my thought. Put it at the far end of your bench, where a tail vise would go. Drill the hole about 3-1/2” from the front edge of the bench and 3-1/2” from the end of the bench. That allows the vise’s sheet-metal base to contact the benchtop fully. And it allows you to stand anywhere in a 270° arc around the vise to use it.
But here’s the best reason: It will speed up your work with a tenon cutter. By rotating the vise diagonally, as shown above, you can tenon both ends of a stick without reclamping it or re-leveling it. It’s just level the stick, clamp the stick, tenon one end and then tenon the other.
The second advantage is that I usually have a garbage can under the bench there, so about half my waste from tenoning ends up in the bin automatically. And the rest is easily brushed from the benchtop and into the garbage can.
